Case Study Seren & Ritchie
“You can teach an old dog (Horse) new tricks! in fact an educated young dog (student) can teach an old dog (horse) new tricks!”
I’m very proud of my young student Seren. At the time of this case study, both her and her horse Ritchie were 20 years old. Seren bought Ritchie from an equestrian college, he had significant physical problems and contact issues. The colleges solution to him hollowing, contracting and trying to run away in trot and canter was to ride him in a market harborough. Unfortunately, this led to another problem in that it taught Ritchie to overflex and either lean on the rider’s hand or come behind the contact. It also taught him to be aggressive and defensive around people because of the pain he was in.
Pictures 1 and 2 shows the beginning of them training with me. We instantly removed the gadget and these pictures showed what Ritchie would do when the Market Harborough was removed. In picture 1 Ritchie continued to move as if he was wearing it! A horse subservient, in learned helplessness, habitually conditioned that this torturous position was required. Of course, this was definitely NOT what was required to help him develop a healthier body and happier mind. In picture 2 you can see what his alternative position was, hollow and inverted with a contracted back. Both damaging postures for him but both fixable with KNOWLEDGE not GADGETS!
Picture 1 BEFORE - overflexing and leaning Picture 2 BEFORE – hollow/inverted/no contact
Picture 3. To improve Ritchie and stop the aforementioned postures, Seren needed to learn how to use her rein aids in a way that didn’t cause pain in Ritchies mouth and that educated him on how to raise his neck correctly, slow his feet, release his back and help him relax in movement. The solution was to remove all pain from Ritchies mouth and teach him what following and maintaining a constant contact felt like - no gadgets or quick fixes, just educated training following French Classical training and the principles of the School of Legerete.
We started to teach Ritchie that he could not lean or overflex by using a vibrating demit arret hand as appropriate. Once he stopped this behaviour, we then had to remedy his potential to invert and hollow by teaching him to lift the root of his neck and stretch into the contact (see picture 3). This technique is an EdL technique known as 'Action Reaction'. To anyone non versed in this technique it will look odd, however if you receive lessons on how to do it, it is a god send for any horse predisposed to hollowing.
Picture 3 – Seren and Ritchie learning Action Reaction with Kat’s help
Picture 5. Here you can see that after a period of time training with these new, educated techniques, Ritchie was able to follow Seren’s hand confidently and maintain a constant contact, in better balance with relaxation and confidence in his rider. Ritchie has many physical problems but at least now his understanding about contact means his body can move in a more biomechanically correct and comfortable way as his training progresses. Well done Seren and Ritchie!
Picture 5 – Seren and Ritchie AFTER Kat’s help
If you have a horse that hollows, leans on your hand or overflexes, irrespective of their age contact Kat for help – thinkingequitation@gmail.com